En Route to the Chesapeake Bay, United States of America, December 1813

There was a knock on the door to Captain Mitchell’s cabin. He looked up irritably from his thick leather-bound logbook.

“COME!”

The wooden door creaked open. It was Jake, his second in command. “We should make landfall on the morrow, Captain.”

“Good, good.”

Jonathan Mitchell did not feel the same happiness that every seafaring man would at the prospect of returning home. Despite starting off as it usually would, his voyage had taken on an entirely different turn.

It had been successful, to say the least. After first running the coastal blockade put into place by the superior British fleet, the Triton had sailed to the Caribbean Sea to harass British interests there. He and his men had managed to capture four merchantmen – his share of the prize money would be substantial.

But nothing like the prize he would get when the HMS Capricorn sailed into a US port. She was the veritable catch of the voyage. Jonathan’s share that consisted of one-quarter of the value of the seized vessels and their contents would be his. But that was not what was on his mind.

The dark-haired angel that had serendipitously fallen into his lap clouded his mind. She was everywhere. When he slept, he dreamt of her. During the day when he was walking the deck and speaking encouraging words to his men, she was there also.

At night, Amelia was a figment of his imagination that was so apparently real during the day. She hardly ever spoke to him, and when she did, she hurled insults at him. Jonathan had never known that he was so many things all at once. She had called him a traitor, cad, scoundrel, scallywag, rogue, thief and an abductor of women. And that was just to name a few.

But no matter the abuse, he felt drawn to her in ways that he had never thought possible. She was beautiful, yes. Jonathan couldn’t get enough of her black hair that billowed in the breeze gently as if floating to heaven. Her face was a treasure map of delights. He would make an effort each day to get close enough to her so that he could uncover yet another enchanting aspect about her.

These approaches invariably ended with her hurling abuse at him. Yet, it was worth it all the way. Just that morning, Jonathan had seen that she had slight indents on her cheeks when she laughed. Naturally, her mirth had ended the moment she had sensed his presence. But he also loved the way she looked when she was furious. There was something animalistic about her when she vented her passion about something.

Jonathan only hoped that he could uncover more about her mind. In the past week, she had barely uttered a word during dinner. It was only thanks to Anna and Jake that there was some semblance of a conversation during supper. All Amelia did was scowl at him when he spoke. Why does she hate me so? This confused Jonathan immensely.

“Captain, cook says that we will be having beef this evening.”

Jonathan looked up with a withering gaze. “Isn’t that a little extravagant, Jake?”

Jake shrugged. “We are close to home, and he thought it would be a good idea to slaughter a bullock or two in celebration of our successful voyage…I don’t see what the matter is with that. It’ll make the men happy.”

“You don’t do you. Well, let me tell you something. The closer we get to the coast, the more dangerous it becomes for us. The Royal Navy is everywhere. All it would take is for one of their ships of the line accompanied by one of their faster razees to ensnare us. The bastards are gradually beating us at our own game.”

Jonathan referred to the way the British had adapted their naval tactics since encountering the superior American frigate that was both faster and more powerful than its British counterpart. The American frigate could outgun the British one and out sail an eighty-nine-gun ship of the line, leaving the British helpless.

However, they had developed a vessel called the razee that was formally a ship of the line, albeit cut down in terms of the number of decks (razeed). She was fast too. USS Chesapeake, a similar ship to Jonathan’s, had been captured recently. Instinctively, he knew that more would soon follow. America was just not powerful enough at sea to face the British.

“I expected more from you, Jake. You have your head so far up that lady’s maid’s skirts that you don’t know starboard from portside anymore,” snapped Jonathan.

Jake looked ashamed. “I am sorry, Captain. It will not happen again.” He made to leave the cabin.

“Jake…” Jonathan fisted his hands.

He was in the wrong and he knew it. Just because his friend was more successful with Anna, it did not mean that he was shirking his duties. On the contrary, Jake showed more enthusiasm than ever, if that was even possible.

Jonathan could have pounded his desk with his fists. He was behaving like a stupid boy with his first crush. He had never been close to a woman before – he never wanted to. He didn’t know if he could because of the cruel way in which his mother had died. Jonathan had always considered love as a vulnerability. It opened a person’s heart thus weakening their resolve.

Men like that always suffered and in the worst cases lost their lives. He had sworn that he would never be the man his father was. His father’s love had been so strong for his mother that he had thrown himself into the flames in an attempt to save his wife – he had died trying. Jonathan shuddered at the thought. War had ruined his childhood and hardened his nature.

Jonathan pressed his lips together. He decided that he would stop fawning over Amelia. He would treat her cordially and with aloof respect. She was a very valuable bargaining chip after all. The woman would fetch him and his crew a pretty penny when she was ransomed to the British.

“I am sorry, Jake,” he said before the other man had the chance to leave the cabin. “I was speaking out of turn. Serve beef – the men deserve it.”

Jake wavered at the door for a moment or two. “Captain…”

Jonathan looked back up from his logbook. “Yes?”

Jake took a tentative step into the cabin. He knew of his friend’s moods from the many years they had worked and served together. Before the war, he had been the foreman on Jonathan’s estate in the State of Virginia. It was where he had grown up and where his father before him had occupied the same position under Jonathan’s father.

Their friendship had developed out of scarcity. Jake was the only man Jonathan respected and appreciated. He had no other friends amongst his own kind that was the elite. He found them tedious, arrogant and cruel. In Jake’s case, he thought of the other foremen that frequented the taverns as barbaric. Jonathan and Jake were in some ways one and the same, albeit from different social classes.

“May I speak plainly, Captain?”

Jonathan frowned. “Why of course. Don’t you always.” He smiled for the first time since Jake entered the cabin.

“All right, Jonathan,” he started, reverting to the way he addressed him when they were alone together. “You like her…”

“Who?”

Jake chuckled. “Amelia. I must say she is a beautiful woman. And might I add, an ideal counterweight to your strong personality.”

“Let me stop you right there. I harbor no feelings for the woman. She is a pain in the neck, arrogant and frail – she’s a woman after all.”

“That’s dafted and you know it.” Jake grinned. “You know she can’t stop talking about ye.” Jake smiled when he registered something he decided was hope on the other man’s face.

“And how would you know that exactly?”

Jake shrugged. “As ye have already so brazenly suggested, I spend a lot of time with Anna…and she told me as much. She too is of the opinion that you two would make a lovely couple. She dreamt it you know.”

Jonathan hacked out a laugh. “Dreamt it, did she?

“Yeah, she did. Anna and I are only one part of the equation. Now, it is up to you and Amelia.” The expression on Jake’s face looked hopeful when Jonathan sighed.

“I have no time for a woman…and besides, Amelia despises me.”

Jake arched his eyebrows. He realized that what he and Anna had planned was going to take a lot more work. “Why don’t you just try and understand her? I mean all you do is grunt and tell stories of the war and how the Americans are going to win it.”

“Well, we are.”

“That may be but try and see it from her perspective. She is a proud English woman and a part of the nobility no less. Of course, she will find such talk against her grain. What self-respecting patriot wouldn’t?” said Jake. He already stood right before Jonathan’s desk.

“She is to be married,” said Jonathan. “What kind of a man would I be if I ripped a woman from the arms of her man, eh?”

“Oh, come on, she hates the man to whom she is betrothed. She dreads the prospect of one day arriving in Canada.”

It was Jonathan’s turn to arch his eyebrows. “More snippets of information from your infinite well of knowledge?”

“Yeah. Anna said that he is a right maggot pie. Amelia was forced into that union by her parents. She doesn’t want the man,” said Jake.

“You want to know something?”

“What?” Jake placed his hands on the desk, hulking over his superior.

“Just how do you find the time to talk so much and still run this ship?”

Jake guffawed. “When you feel what I do for Anna then anything’s possible.” He shrugged. “Do you have any grievances about the way I handle my duties…” he winked, “Sir?”

“No, I can’t say that I do.” Jonathan pressed his fingers together and pointed them up like a steeple. All this talk about women was making him apprehensive. He wasn’t used to it.

“Good. We will have a real feast tonight. I can’t wait. Anna is helping the steward, so we are in for a right treat.” Jake looked at his captain. “Will there be anything else, sir?” he asked, reverting back to a professional capacity.

“No, that’s all for now.”

Jonathan did not hear Jake leave the cabin. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Amelia again. Suppertime was fast approaching, and he had no idea how he was going to soften her up a little and maybe get a smile out of her. He immediately discounted the last thought. Let’s start with making her like me a bit – that would be a good start, he thought.